Marching in memory
with Mr. Comly

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

Ed Comly never expected to be asked to serve as grand marshal of the annual Somerton Memorial Day Parade.
Then again, the 83-year-old Bustleton resident never thought that one 20-month period of time more than six decades ago could have such a pervasive impact on his life.
Even today, the father of three, retired machine maintenance worker and local civic activist is perhaps most identifiable as a World War II veteran. And the truth is, the ranks of surviving WWII vets are rapidly diminishing.
That’s a big reason that the parade’s organizers in the Somerton Civic Association asked Comly to lead the marchers up Bustleton Avenue on Monday afternoon.
The parade steps off from George Washington High School at noon and culminates in front of a reviewing stand at Somerton United Methodist Church on Trevose Road, just east of Bustleton.
A ceremonial placing of wreaths will be held near the reviewing stand at about 1:30 p.m., according to Mary Jane Hazell, president of the civic group.
Families from throughout the tri-county area are encouraged to attend to show their support for America’s veterans — both living and deceased — as well as the many performers and organizations that will march in the parade.
There will be marching bands, youth groups, veterans groups, elected officials, police and fire department entrants and many other community-based groups.
Comly will ride at the front, right behind the police escort. April marked the 63rd anniversary of his voyage overseas to fight for freedom alongside the other young men of what would become known as America’s "Greatest Generation."
"We had no idea. Even going over the (English) Channel, we had no idea what was going to happen until we got there and saw what was going on," Comly said of the June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion, when his 992nd Engineer Treadway Bridge Company, 8th Armored Division, boarded boats in Plymouth, England, bound for the beaches of Normandy.
D-Day remains the largest sea invasion by any military force in world history.
Comly recalls that once his unit arrived ashore, they still had quite a bit of figuring out to do. It was nighttime and Comly was the first off the boat. He drove a supply truck to an MP who was giving directions. The MP pointed. Comly drove.
Soon after, he noticed an Army Ranger hunkering down in a ditch for cover. Comly stopped to ask where he was supposed to go. The Ranger told him to turn around. Comly and his colleagues were already behind enemy lines.
What did they do then?
"We got out of there," he said.
After all, none of the men in Comly’s outfit would be of any use dead on the first day of the invasion. Rather, they would be invaluable to their armored division on the long trek across France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany.
The 992nd built and guarded treadway pontoon bridges across rivers, creeks and ditches, allowing Allied tanks and infantry to continue the advance across Europe. Comly’s outfit spanned the Vire River and Meuse River in France, the Albert Canal in Belgium, the Ruhr River in western Germany and, ultimately, the Elbe River about 50 miles west of Berlin.
"We bridged the Elbe and met the Russians," Comly said. "Then after FDR died, the war ended."
During the campaign, Comly’s unit found itself in harm’s way on more than one occasion.
"Once you got there and got your bridge down, you went and hid someplace," he said.
"We had some close (calls), and we lost a few fellows on the Ruhr River at Jülich (Germany)."
Allied forces as a whole found the going tough in that region as the Germans controlled the upper river and were in position to flood the valley. Eventually, that’s what happened.
"It was the size of the Pennypack Creek," Comly said of the river. "Then the Nazis opened the floodgate, and it became the width of the Delaware."
Analogies to Northeast Philadelphia come naturally to Comly, who has lived his entire life here aside from his time in the Army, which included a year at Camp Polk, La., and stops in New York and England before landing on the European continent.
Comly grew up on his father’s farm on Grant Avenue near the present-day Northeast Airport. His grandfather operated a farm along Bustleton Pike near the present-day site of the Bustleton post office.
"This was a prairie here," he said.
He attended Frankford High School and attended St. Luke Memorial Church. But despite his lanky 6-foot-3 frame, sports were not an option as a teen. There was too much work to do.
"I went out for basketball at Frankford High, but then the old man gave me hell for not coming home from school," Comly said. "I told him where I was, and that was the end of that."
Instead, Comly’s time was occupied in his family’s nine greenhouses and by trips to the old Reading Terminal Market, where his family sold and bartered flowers and vegetables grown on the farm.
"There was no fooling around. The only thing was going to a movie on Saturday night," he said.
The war was well under way when he turned 18 and insisted on enlisting, despite an exemption given young farmers.
"I felt that if I was going to be at home, what was I going to do? Have people say, ‘Why are you still over here, Comly?’" he recalled.
His brother, J. Byron Comly Jr. — who would go on to operate the Comly Flower Shop in Bustleton after the war — was already in the service and stationed in Puerto Rico. Meanwhile, Comly’s brother-in-law was in the Air Corps. Five of his cousins were also in the service.
On the way back from the market one day, he made a stop at the recruiting office. The office worker happened to be a former teacher, who advised him of his exemption and asked him if his father knew about his plans.
Comly nodded yes.
"I said one time I probably shouldn’t have done it, but I’m glad I did for the experience," he said. "I didn’t want to be seen as a draft dodger."
He was lucky enough to have local pal Joe Heller, a former aide to state Rep. George Kenney, by his side the whole way from enlistment, through training and the war. When they got home, Comly married his childhood sweetheart, Ann Curry. Together, they moved into a home on Cowden Street and raised three sons. Ann passed away in 1971.
In time, Comly married again to another lifelong friend, Jayne Vaders, who passed away in 1996.
Ed remains close with his stepdaughter, Jayne, and his three sons, Ed, Ronald and Jay. He is very proud of his grandson, Jay Marshal Comly, who is a staff sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps and has served two tours in Iraq. Comly remains very active in the community. He is a co-founder of the Bustleton Memorial American Legion Post 810 and a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6617 and the Delaware Valley Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge.
Comly also is a longtime member of the Greater Bustleton Civic League and the 7th Police District Advisory Council.
He has never considered himself a hero, however, despite his combat exploits. Young men in his time thrived on action and adventure, even if it meant confronting their own mortality.
"We didn’t care," he said, "because we were so excited." ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com